2019 Missouri Legislature

On the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll and the Kansas City Star’s Crystal Thomas review this past week’s special session.

Gov. Mike Parson wanted lawmakers to deal with a vehicle sales tax technicality as they gathered for the veto session. Legislators ended up following through on that request without much trouble.

Sen. Lincoln Hough is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. The Springfield Republican talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll about the upcoming special session — and what to expect when lawmakers come back to Jefferson City in January.

Hough represents Missouri’s 30th Senatorial District, which takes in a big chunk of Springfield and Greene County. He was sworn into office in early January for a four-year term.

State Rep. David Wood is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. The Versailles Republican spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jaclyn Driscoll and Jason Rosenbaum about controversy in the state’s Medicaid program and other issues.

Wood was elected to Missouri’s 58th House District in 2012. He’s currently serving his final term in the General Assembly’s lower chamber, where he’s chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee for health, mental health and social services.

State Rep. Derek Grier is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast, where he talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about how Missouri is approaching economic development policy.

The Chesterfield Republican represents the 100th District in the Missouri House. The St. Louis County district takes in parts of Chesterfield, Town & Country, Winchester and Ballwin.

State Rep. Chuck Basye is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. The Rocheport Republican talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about some of his accomplishments during the 2019 session — and some agenda items that remain unfinished.

Basye represents portions of Boone, Howard, Cooper and Randolph counties in the Missouri House. He was first elected to the General Assembly’s lower chamber in 2014.

Senate Minority Leader Gina Walsh returns to Politically Speaking to talk with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about Gov. Mike Parson’s first year in office, as well as the lay of the land for organized labor.

The Bellefontaine Neighbors Democrat represents Missouri’s 13th Senatorial District, which takes in a portion of north St. Louis County. Walsh will leave the Senate after 2020 because of term limits, completing a 16-year legislative tenure that began in the early 2000s.

Sen. Karla May is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast, where the St. Louis Democrat talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about a bipartisan push to overhaul the criminal justice system.

May represents parts of St. Louis and St. Louis County. She was elected to the Senate in 2018 after spending eight years in the House.

State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about his first few months in the statewide office.

Fitzpatrick is a Republican who served three full terms in the Missouri House, including two years as the chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee. Gov. Mike Parson appointed the Barry County Republican to be treasurer after Eric Schmitt was picked to be attorney general.

Sen. Jill Schupp returns to Politically Speaking to talk about the aftermath of the 2019 legislation session, which included passage of a ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy and other aspects of Gov. Mike Parson’s workforce development agenda.

The Creve Coeur Democrat is serving her second term in the Missouri Senate. Her senate district includes St. Louis County cities like Creve Coeur, Town and Country, Maryland Heights, Olivette and Ladue.

On a special edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio links up with KCUR’s Statehouse Blend to review the ins and outs of the 2019 session of the Missouri General Assembly.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann joined KCUR’s Samuel King and Brian Ellison to talk about the final week of the legislative session. That’s when the Legislature sent abortion restrictions to Gov. Mike Parson.

The 2019 regular session of the Missouri General Assembly wraps up today in Jefferson City. Many legislative priorities for Gov. Mike Parson, including new abortion restrictions, bridge repair and the low-income housing tax-credit program remain on the to-do list.

Here’s how this is going to work: we’ll update from Jefferson City with the latest news and insights. The most recent news will be on top, meaning you can get a whole recap of the day starting at the bottom.

Updated at 6 a.m. May 16 with Senate passage — Missouri is a step closer to having some of the strictest limits on abortion in the country.

The measure approved by the state Senate early Thursday bans abortion after a heartbeat can be detected, usually around six to eight weeks. There is no exception for rape or incest and there are also complete bans on abortion if a fetus is diagnosed with Down syndrome, or based on race or gender.

A state incentive package aimed at getting General Motors to expand in Missouri is running into a major roadblock in the state Senate, threatening to derail some of Gov. Mike Parson’s priorities with less than a week left in the legislative session.

Six Republican senators who object to the expansion of job-training aid and a fund that would help finance the closing of economic development deals led a filibuster Monday on what is generally a quick procedural step to begin the day. That prevented any other work from getting done, as the filibuster, which began around 2:30 p.m., stretched into the night and early Tuesday morning.

The Missouri General Assembly beat the Friday evening deadline to pass the $29.7 billion state budget, but took the long way there, with the Senate’s final vote coming at just after 2 a.m.

In a day dominated by tensions between the chambers, the House also made quick work of legislation that came up just Thursday that offers $50 million in tax incentives to General Motors. The automaker is considering a major expansion at its plant in suburban St. Louis.

The Missouri House and Senate have approved their versions of the $29 billion budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year. But there’s still work to be done ahead of the May 10 deadline to get it to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk, namely by the conference committee that’ll figure out how to square everyone’s desires.

Rep. Dean Plocher is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the Des Peres Republican primarily talked about a potential merger between St. Louis and St. Louis County.

Plocher represents the 89th House District, which includes parts of Town & Country, Huntleigh, Des Peres and Country Life Acres. Plocher, an attorney by trade, is the chairman of the influential House General Laws Committee.

Updated on Thursday, April 11 at 3 p.m. with information about the new bonding plan passing:

Missouri lawmakers are close to accepting a plan that would finance the repair of the state's bridges.

The Senate approved a proposal that would have the state issue $300 million in bonds for bridge repair if Missouri receives matching federal funds. It would also spend $50 million directly on bridge projects.

The Missouri Senate is expected to consider a bill to prevent public university and high school administrators from censoring articles from student journalists.

State senators have failed to call up the Walter Cronkite New Voices Act for a vote every year since 2016. The Missouri House of Representatives endorsed the bill last month for the fourth time. A hearing has yet to be scheduled in the Senate.

State Rep. Wiley Price is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. The St. Louis Democrat talked extensively about his first few months in the Missouri House as well as a slew of bills he’s sponsored to overhaul the state’s elections.

Price was first elected last year to represent Missouri’s 84th House District, which takes in portions of the western part of St. Louis. It includes largely African American neighborhoods in north St. Louis as well as primarily white parts of south St. Louis.

State Rep. Nick Schroer joins Politically Speaking for the second time to talk about the Missouri House’s passage of an expansive abortion-restriction bill.

Members of the House easily approved the St. Charles County Republican’s legislation this week, which now heads to the Senate. It’s expected to face a Democratic filibuster once it hits the floor of the General Assembly’s upper chamber.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson delivered his first State of the State address Wednesday, giving the GOP chief executive a chance to detail an ambitious agenda for state government.

Parson took the opportunity to flesh out his main priorities of bolstering workforce-development programs and improving roads and bridges. He told lawmakers that he wants to reorient economic-development programs to train people for local jobs — and fight opioid abuse and boost money for drug courts.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum as the latest guest on Politically Speaking.

The Springfield Democrat was elected as minority leader late last year, succeeding former Rep. Gail McCann Beatty of Kansas City. Quade was first elected to the House in 2016 to represent part of Springfield.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about what to expect during the 2019 legislative session.

The Springfield Republican was elected as House speaker on Wednesday. Republicans will have a chance to accomplish a lot since the GOP holds commanding supermajorities in both of the General Assembly’s legislative chambers.